Day One...

Oh my gosh.. we started eating before we even boarded the plane! We caught a flight from Canberra to Sydney early in the morning and since we had time to kill before boarding the long haul one to US, we met up with Alex's sister for breakfast. We were brought to this quaint little french place called 'Le Pain'. It's a very nice place if you are looking for a quiet breakfast, soft chit chats and having a read of the newspaper before the rest of the city wakes up. We ordered normal stuff, poached eggs with hollandaise sauce, ham and guyere cheese croissant and lattes. Still it was a satisfying breakfast. I like the quiet most of all.

Communal table style of dining

Our latte was served in what looked like a white bowl

Poached eggs on toast and turkey ham with hollandaise sauce

Ham and guyere cheese croissant with a trio of mustard

Belgian Waffle with mixed berries

And now away from Australia!

The trip was a really LOONG one. I guess it was made worse by the fact that it was United Airlines and not SIA. I bet SIA wouldn't feel THAT long. :p I have reasons for my dislike for United. After reading the below, you may very well agree with me! All negative barr one. There are a fair few so I'm listing them down by number.

1. A gentleman sitting in front of us complained to the air stewardess of a cockroach running circles around his feet. Yes, we saw it running too. I was threatening to scream if it came anywhere near me. Definitely did not pay $$ to have a cockroach that close to me.
2. We saw a strip of thick silver sticky tape on the downside of the luggage compartment that runs above the centre seats of the plane. A lady complained to the stewardess of air conditioning water dripping on her head. Yes, we saw it dripping too. How was the problem fixed? The stewardess squeezed a towel into the crack and the poor passenger had a towel hanging above her head the entire journey.
3. Alex had the entire weight of the food cart rammed into the back of his seat.
4. Alex had several pieces of ice dropped over his head while the stewardess was dropping them into a plastic cup for another passenger.
5. Alex had his meal forgotten. The stewardess ran out just as she got to him and then conveniently forgot to serve him.
6. Yes poor Alex.
7. We did not have a personal PTV. Had to stare at a distant, distant screen.
8. On a positive note, the pilot did a fantastic job landing the plane. We did not feel a thing. If we could score him, it would be 100/100.


We landed in LAX at 10am and had a 10 hour stopover before boarding another flight to New York. Because of the long wait, Alex and I decided to head to downtown LA by boarding the LAX Flyaway bus which stops at Union Station. The bus ride was only US 12 return and a short trip of 30 minutes. From Union Station we took the Metro Red Line to Hollywood Boulevard. US 1.25 for a single trip ticket. Plenty of picture taking there!

You know you have arrived in LA when you see these trees

The Union Station - I like the look of this building- Looks better up close

Artwork in Union Station

This was the glasswork on the dome in Union Station

Downtown LA

This was taken at the Hollywood/Vine station. The reels on the ceiling are to represent movie making Hollywood and the tree LA. I like how every station has different forms of art work. Love it!

Arriving at Hollywood Boulevard. We walked the entire strip!

Walking down the Walk of Stars, we took some pics of stars. The icon beneath each name shows the category for which they are given the star. A record for a recording artiste. A film camera for an actor and a mic for a speaker. I like Woody Woodpecker! (Hear the laugh in your head now?) They actually had one for Snow White too. I don't quite get why stars are given to animated characters.. they are not real! None for Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty though. So again, why?

We saw several prominent, renowned buildings.

Then we saw some interesting characters...

A man with many extra plastic, colourful appendages.

The funnyman Charlie Chaplin!

Elmo and Big Bird!

In a town that is renowned for its superficiality and its obsession of obtaining the ultimate acclaim of the golden statue, you can get one of your very own for only USD 8.99! You can award yourself the title of 'Best Daughter', 'Best Mother', 'Best Father' or 'Best Sister'. There is lots to go around. Only thing is, there is no need for an acceptance speech or a jaw dropping outfit

After all that walking and photo taking, we headed back to the airport on the return Flyaway bus. We were to board our plane from Terminal 7. As we passed Terminal 2, it was really shocking to see all passengers turned out of the building under the hot sun with their luggages in tow. ALL passengers...you can just imagine the sea of people we saw.

Even the police showed up to take guard. Alex and I are speculating the cause of this incident. Bomb? Nah.... the crowds would have been shoo-ed to further ground and the barricade set further way. Gunman? Maybe.. cos I saw the guards running inside through my bus window, through the glass doors at the terminal.

Drama, drama, drama even before our trip is to officially start. By the end of the day Alex and I were truly knackered. This is a shot of my sleeping husband on the bus.

We are really jet lagged. I'm updating this from the airport while waiting for our flight to NY. I think we will both be knocked out once we board the plane. So I'm offering my apologies if this blog post is a little disjointed. The weary mind....

Till our trip begins in NY!

cheryl